cleaning up a press

[kbstenberg]

I need some help from anyone that has cleaned up old and slightly abused Lee 1000 press. Most metal pieces are moderately coated with rust. Tonight I stripped the base completely down. And started cleaning all metal with Ed's Red. I figure 1 more cleaning then all metal parts get a soaking in Lemishine and water for 10 or 12 hrs to help remove any rust. Then a final polishing for the smaller pieces, spinning on my drill press and polished with steel wool.
I figure on spray painting all non-moving parts. And the moving parts like the ram and pivot pins will get a coat of powdered graphite before re-assembly.
Will the E.R. hurt the painted surfaces like the base if I try cleaning it also.
Fortunately all pivot points aren't rusted so I won't increase any slop when cleaning them up.
I figure that any metal aerosol paint will do for the painted surfaces.
So I guess my question is. Am I going about the cleanup correctly?
Kevin

[Southern Son]

I have heard some say the Ed's red has Acetone, some make it without, does yours have acetone? If so, that might give the painted bits a bit of curry.

[yarro]

If it is paint and not powder coat, the answer is maybe. It depends on what paint they used as some are sensitive to some solvents others aren't. If your just cleaning, using simple green concentrate at the highest concentration stated on the directions works for me. If your seeing rust spots in the paint the you really need to strip and repaint because that means that there is rust you can't see starting under the paint in other spots. Painting over bad paint causes the paint to flake later.

-yarro

[kbstenberg]

So far the paint hasen't been damaged by the cleaning.
Am I able to powder coat parts. Or do you need a profesional setup to apply a powder coat?

[Bill*]

I think powder coating is mostly for a pro. I believe it requires a bunch of equipment to charge the parts electrically.

[Gliden07]

I think powder coating is mostly for a pro. I believe it requires a bunch of equipment to charge the parts electrically.

You can get a couple powder coat kits resonably from Harbor Frieght or Eastwood! I have one and did not even consider powdercoating my Pro 1000. Lots of time on a press you can buy new for about $160 bucks!

I would just clean it up good and use it!! A little rust won't hurt! When I cleaned mine I used a wire wheel on a cordless drill then coated it all with a rag that had some oil on it! I did go a little overboard on the Aluminium I have a small grinder I converted to a buffer for small projects, I used it for the Aluminium on the press.
After cleaning and lubing it took a couple hours to really dial the press in. It works real good now as long as I keep an eye on the priming system. This seems to be a common sticking problem with this press!

[zuke]

Contact LEE about their rebuilding/refurbishing warranty.